Normal street surfacing and repaving was likely the reason the object was found so far below ground, Leone explained.
The bundle was found at a crossroads, which is significant, he said.
The roadside canal bordered an unpaved road dating back to the 1680s, which linked two bodies of water—College Creek and the city's harbor.
The bundle was likely placed in the canal before 1720, which makes it one of the earliest U.S. examples of African spirit practices, Leone said. It is the first example of such a bundle with its contents found completely whole and intact in North America, he added.
The discovery points to an evolution of rituals. "This one bundle was deposited in public, and by 1790s, they were buried and used in rituals that were secret." Why the bundles began to be hidden by the late 1700s is not clear, Leone said.
Spirit World
"In Africa there are a lot of things like this, often placed by the roadside," Yales' Lamp said. "They are meant to protect things, usually to protect what is beside the road."
Researchers looked to the bundle's contents for clues in pinpointing the bundle's origins.
What's most unique about the bundle is the inclusion of the axhead, which suggested the Yoruba culture of West Africa found in southwestern Niger and Benin. The ax could indicate both Shango, the god of thunder and lightning in the Yoruba culture, Lamp said.
The ax could also evoke the image of Eshu Elegba, god of the crossroads, according to the Maryland researchers.
Africans brought to the U.S. in the slave trade were thought to maintain at least some of their religious beliefs, and the discovery of the relic points to the preservation of those rites, Leone said.
If groups of transported slaves from the same African kingdoms were placed in a specific area, it could be assumed that their religion would have survived and been kept whole, he said.
"That's an important point that keeps this from being a mere artifact," he said.
Allen Roberts, an African culture expert at University of California, Los Angeles, called the find "spectacular." He said it confirms that Africans who traveled to the U.S. brought with them certain skills. The bundle is evidence of intellectual tools that helped them cope, he added.
Discerning the bundle's purpose, or why it was found where it was, however, would be pure speculation, Roberts said. African spiritual practices eventually became part of more eclectic religions, such as voodoo (see video) and Santeria, which are blends of Christian and African spiritualism. These practices are found throughout the Americas where Africans were transplanted.
"What becomes voodoo or hoodoo is part of that as well—people trying to make do with what they have," said Roberts, who was not affiliated with the dig in Annapolis.
"That's what's interesting about these practices. They are really a gauge of independence. People were doing something that was theirs."
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